The Scourge of Political Correctness

As an undergraduate at Cornell I majored in Engineering Physics, which at the time was acknowledged to be the elite program in the School of Engineering and arguably the most difficult course of study at the University. And the Cornell course reputed to be the most difficult, which was open to all undergraduates, was (wait for it ...) Introduction to Russian (a 6-credit course)! I took this course in my sophomore year as an elective, my intention being to boost my grade average with minimal effort (which I succeeded in doing with the highest grade in my class). My secret? My first language had been Polish, my parents' native language. And though Russian Cyrillic is unlike the Polish (and English) Latin alphabet, Polish grammar is sufficiently similar to its Russian (Slavic) cousin's that it proved to be the key to my success. What does this have to do with political correctness? Patience ...

I did learn an important lesson from my Russian elective: a paradigm is an extremely useful learning tool. When the theologian and sage Hillel was asked to summarize the bible, he coined the Golden Rule:

“That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.”

My own paradigm for that Russian course was: "If the corresponding Polish doesn't sound right, the given Russian example is probably ungrammatical." Shortly thereafter, when Justice Potter Stewart commented on what he considered to be obscene, he wrote in the case of Jacobellis v. Ohio 378 U.S. 184 (1964) one of the most famous phrases in the entire history of the United States Supreme Court:

“I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it.” [emphasis added]

Now then, who the hell thinks political correctness is anything but an impediment to decent behavior? I don't see any hands that belong to sane people. Political correctness is a quagmire of biblical proportions. It has led to a litigation industry that supports the machinations of hordes of lawyers who clog the courts with all manner of harassment lawsuits, and add significantly to the ephemeral wealth that plagues our increasingly unproductive society. Presumably elaborated to administer decency and evenhandedness, where did it get us for our troubles? Witness the mercifully just-ended Election 2008. Good grief! Has anyone ever witnessed such unrestrained indecent behavior within the most modern society on earth? I haven't; and I have observed firsthand all Presidential elections since Eisenhower's first in 1952.

Decency and fairness can't be legislated and/or imposed by ever more quixotic regulations, which not only serve to obliterate common-sense and intuitively-understood notions of civilized behavior but actually enable irresponsible behavior. All that is required is a simple paradigm, the Golden Rule, promulgated by a contemporary of Jesus. Jesus espoused the ethic of reciprocity as well:

“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.”

The ethic of reciprocity is a fundamental moral value that establishes one's right to just treatment and one's responsibility to ensure justice for others. Reciprocity is arguably the most essential basis for the modern concept of human rights. It doesn't require the elaboration-as-obfuscation introduced by political correctness.